Marchant de Lange is especially effective in the shorter formats of the game and has played in Twenty20 franchise teams round the world Getty Images
Marchant de Lange is especially effective in the shorter formats of the game and has played in Twenty20 franchise teams round the world Getty Images

London: Pace bowler Marchant de Lange has been hailed a match-winner by Glamorgan coach Robert Croft after the South African signed a three-year contract on Tuesday. The 26-year-old, who has adapted his bowling action since suffering a stress fracture in his back in 2012, is especially effective in the shorter formats of the game and has played in Twenty20 franchise teams round the world. “Marchant is a match-winner. He has pace, aggression and he’s the right age and at the right stage of his career to make an impact for us,” said Croft. Glamorgan chief roots for Wales team to be included in new ECB’s domestic T20 tournament

“He will be a great addition to our squad.” De Lange, who played the last of his two Tests for South Africa in 2012 and his last one-day international in 2014, is in the “prime of his career”, said Glamorgan’s director of cricket Hugh Morris. “We are delighted to have signed Marchant de Lange and to see him arrive in Wales today,” said Morris. Glamorgan open their second division County Championship campaign against Northamptonshire on Friday. Meanwhile, former England batsman and current Glamorgan chief executive Hugh Morris has pitched for the inclusion of a Wales-based team in the England and Wales Cricket Board s (ECB) proposed new Twenty20 cricket competition.

Plans to introduce an eight-team, city-based Twenty20 tournament have been pushed back until at least 2020, but Glamorgan told the BBC that having a team based in Cardiff would help boost the sport s profile in the country. The growth and development of the game in Wales could be driven by this new competition, the former test batsman said.